To lay off

When we were laid off, we had a party:

To lay off means, “to make redundant”, this means “to remove someone from a job because they are no longer needed”. So, it’s not exactly “to fire”. Usually “to lay off” has a different connotation. It is often for economic reasons. However “to fire” is often for performance.  

To fire is “despedir”, to lay off es “despedir por razones económicas o por una falta de necesidad del trabajador por parte de la empresa”

• La semana pasada despidieron a la mitad de la plantilla. 
• Last week they laid off half of the staff. 
• Last week they made half of the staff redundant. 

Also, it’s separable (you can separate it):

• They laid the team off.
• They laid off the team.

Let’s look at some more examples:

• ABC laid the journalists off after losing 50% of its stock value. 
• After the strike the company had to lay off the whole workforce
• Don’t lay me off, I am one of the most productive employees. 

Getting laid off isn’t great. Now let’s look at the next phrasal verb… 🚴